Virgin Gorda, followed by a day at sea
Friday, April 29th. Spanish Town, Virgin Gorda, B.V.I.
The third biggest of the British Virgin Isles is one of the region’s most spectacular. Sprinkled amid the mansions and private islands of the rich and famous, Virgin Gorda has somehow retained its secluded, castaway paradise atmosphere. Translating as Fat Virgin, the island was given its unusual name by Columbus, who noted the protruding stomach of the island's shape.
We went on the oversubscribed Foodie Adventure: imited to 21 but 5 did not turn up. We had Lea with us on this. First stop was a local roadside food stall run by an enthusiastic Foodie. Sampled a couple of her dishes ,plus some super juice.
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Then onwards, via a so called Millionaireś Row, to a family run farm where the owner showed us all her plants, soursop being one, and then we sampled some of her juices. Then we stopped at Angels & Mermaids for a seemingly full lunch with rum tots. But then we were taken to a smart beach restaurant for a smart lunch, table cloths and all!
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We walked along the beach from this restaurant to the ship: I was thinking of a swim but decided there were too many waves. Surprisingly we passed on a lunch once back aboard.. A talk by Malcolm on ´Feathered Pirates of the Caribbean. Graham Joliffe of the Stebbing Historical Society wanted me to proofread his changes to my article for the society's 25th anniversary book: difficult . . but David got my website up on one of the ship's computer and I did my best!
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We had 4 lectures: ´Mangroves-Cradle of Liféby Marcel; ´The Golden Age of Piracy´by Alex; ´Fun Fishy Factś by Robin; and the less successful one by Bernardo, merely due to his delivery, Á Brief History of Whaling. A German lunch by the pool, with suckling pig, sausages, saurkraut, German beer and delicious tiny doughnuts to follow: we had one of these lunches on each leg of the cruise, the subsequent ones with rousing German music. . David went to a wine tasting in the afternoon. Recap and Briefing as normal.
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On to Concepcion